Chicago Bulls: No Answer To Problem Of Playing Down

The Chicago Bulls continue to play down to lesser teams, while having just come out victorious against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

While fans might be rejoicing over the Chicago Bulls’ win against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night, the victory also once again brings up an important question: why does the team continuously play down to lesser opponents, only to have no problem going head-to-head with tough competition?

And it seems like head coach Fred Hoiberg would love to know the answer too.

"“You got any ideas?”"

But he did offer up the explanation of Chicago needing to get into the right mindset, in order to be successful.

"“It’s a mindset with our guys. You take away Golden State, we’re 8-0 against the other 2-through-6 in the league. I told our guys, we say this all the time — this is one you can build off of. And if you can go out and play with that type of intensity, you’re going to give yourself a chance night in and night out.”"

The Bulls have lost six out of their last eight games. They waver between winning and losing streaks, on a monthly basis. They are hot and cold, many times for no apparent reason at all.

"“It’s something I’ve been thinking about a long time and I can’t put my finger on it,” Derrick Rose said when asked about the situation. “I wish I could. We have to make sure we come out and compete with an edge and play with effort.”"

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This tendency to play down is nothing new. For years now, Chicago has been blown out by teams that almost have no place in the league, while coming up strong against championship contenders. It happened under Vinny Del Negro. It happened under Tom Thibodeau. And it is happening now, under the newly appointed Hoiberg.

Specific players cannot be blamed either.

Although guys like Rose and Joakim Noah have been around for it all, the rest of the roster has seen major changes. And yet, nothing has changed.

So what is the root of this immensely frustrating issue?

Logic may point to the idea that perhaps the Bulls do not feel as though they have to work as hard against worse opponents; they underestimate the matchup, while the other team probably over-prepares, and therefore Chicago comes out on the losing end.

It is true that a win against a group like the Cavaliers is something to be proud over, more so than say against the Philadelphia 76ers at this point. But as impressive as such a win may be, losing to the likes of the Charlotte Hornets (twice, actually) is flat out embarrassing. Easy wins should be just that.

More hoops habit: Chicago Bulls: Nikola Mirotic Must Build Off Recent Success

The good news is, this is no longer something that has gone unnoticed to the organization. Both the coaching staff and the players understand that this is certainly an area they need to work on. However, before they can come up with a solution, they need to identify why it is happening in the first place.

Fingers crossed.

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